WATER USE EFFICIENCY OF MAIZE VARIETIES IN ACID SAND SOIL
U. C. UDO-INYANG
Department of Soil Science and Land Resources Management, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
I. D. EDEM *
Department of Soil Science and Land Resources Management, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
M. S. UDO
Department of Soil Science and Land Resources Management, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Introduction: Efficient use of water imposes one of the major limits to rainfed crop production especially in sandy soils. Measurement of water use efficiency (WUE) is, therefore, a useful utility in assessing biomass production vis-à-vis grain yield. Therefore, quantification of evapo-transpiration is possible in soil water balance study in order to improve WUE of crops. This research aims to quantify the volume of soil water utility by maize crop.
Methods: Two local maize varieties (Mkprak and Uweb) along with one improved variety (FARZ-7) were planted under rainfed condition. Experiment was in randomized complete block design, replicated three times. Four micro-lysimeters were randomly installed in each treatment. Periodic weighing of the micro-lysimeters two days after rainfall was done to determine evapotranspiration at different stages of crop growth.
Results: Results showed average WUE 0.27 g mm-1 (±0.01), 0.26 g mm-1 (±0.00), and 0.27 g mm-1 (±0.01) for varieties Mkprak, Uweb and FARZ-7 respectively with non-significant differences for grain production. However, WUE for the shoot biomass was higher for Uweb 0.15 g mm-1 (±0.02) followed by Mkprak 0.14 g mm-1 (±0.01) and the lowest for variety FARZ-7 0.13 g mm-1 (±0.01).
Conclusion: Of all the three varieties, the efficiency of converting soil moisture into grain yield was in the decreasing order of Farz-7, Mkprak and Uweb; implying that the improved variety (Farz-7) is most suitable to the ecology of the area.
Keywords: WUE, evapotranspiration, grain yield, biomass, lysimeter